I Love Lucy

Ricky: (To Lucy) I know you like a book. You must have an interior motive.

Ricky: (seeing pancakes on his plate) Hey! Tortillas!
Lucy: (sarcastically) Yeah. I made them out of Aunt Jemima Tortilla Mix.
Ricky: Oh, I keep forgetting here in America you call them Flap Cakes.
Lucy: Come again?
Ricky: Hot Jacks?
Lucy: You were closer with tortillas. They are Hot Cakes.
Ricky: Oh!
(takes a bite) Ricky Ricardo: No, these are Cold Cakes.

Ricky:  What have you got? 
Lucy: Where:
Ricky: In back of you there.

Ricky: Something’s wrong with the electricity. My shaver isn’t working.

Ricky: I’m just going to let her stew in her own goose for awhile.

Ricky: How do spell s’perience?
Lucy: E-x-p
Ricky: E-x? You’re kidding.

Desi Arnaz was and is, without a doubt, one of the most underrated comics ever. I watch, on average, two I Love Lucy’s a day (Thank you, TVLand!) and I am floored by his comedic talents each and every episode. We all know Lucille Ball was probably the greatest star to ever live - but Desi was nothing short of remarkable. His timing and the way he delivered his lines was on par with anyone. Ever.

The shadow Lucy cast was just SO powerful. Unfortuantely for Desi, Vivian Vance, and William Frawley, limelight cannot be stolen from Lucille Ball.

Okay, beautiful readers, let me give it to you straight.  There’s absolutely no reason to put your television on any channel but TV Land today.  Starting at 9:00 (be sure to check your own local listings), their going to obliterate the competition.  Being the I Love Lucy addict that I am, I’m getting weak in the knees.  Get this:  Lucy will take over the channel for 7 hours - putting me in 7th Heaven!

When the Lucy Laughs end, TV Land will reshow the AMAZING premiere of their new reality show, She’s Got the Look.  If you didn’t catch it the first time around, you’ll most definitely want to see it this time.  It’s so well done, with a lot of style.

After episode 1 of “She’s Got the Look,” you’re in for more laughs with two back to back Beverly Hillbillies followed by some of the funniest Andy Griffith’s ever.

At 6:00, they’ll air “Hot Rod Ottis,” the one where Otis buys a car and puts the fear of God into Andy and Barney - who then put the same fear back into Otis!  The next Andy Griffith is just as hilarious - the title is “The Song Festers” - it’s the one where Barney thinks he’s a killer singer but Gomer comes  along and outshines him. 

At 7:00, Aunt Bee buys too much beef for the ailing freezer to handle, leading to headaches for Andy and laughs for the rest of us.  “Aunt Bee, call the man!“  At 7:30 is another of my favorites - “Divorce, Mountain Style!”  Any episodes featuring both Barney and the Darlings is one I don’t even blink during.  In this episode, Charlene wants to divorce Dud Wash and marry Andy.  Fortunately, Andy has Barney to help.  Except for one thing - he isn’t any!

After Andy and Barney finish up, there’s an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition followed by… wait for it, wait for it… Episode 2 of She’s Got the Look.  According to the promo, it looks like someone has a big meltdown.   TV Land caps it off (post-meltdown!) with about 4 episodes of MASH.

I’ve already got TV Land on and going here in my home office.  Lucy and Ethel are trying to find a way to get in on the trip to Europe.  Ehtel cracked me up - when it looks like she’ll be the only one who doesn’t get to go, she was extremely down trodden and says, “I don’t want to see Europe anyway.  It’s so old.”

This is going to be a great day!

Our home office is decorated with vintage movie and vintage television memorabilia. Audrey Hepburn’s framed and hanging on the wall (actually, Audrey has laid claim to three walls with art prints), James Dean is present and accounted for, and of course there’s plenty of Lucy and Marilyn.

I’ve found a lot more lovelies online that I need (yes, need…want doesn’t quite get it), like the ones in this post.

The I Love Lucy Mousepad will probably be the first thing I nab. I thought I’d seen everything even remotely related to Lucy, but I’ve never seen an I Love Lucy Mousepad like this. I love it big time.

I’m also completely wild about the ROSEANNE for queen Keepsake Box and ROSEANNE for queen Stein. I have a feeling there are a lot more Roseanne goodies on the other side of the links above, but my billfold and I are afraid to look.

If you have a Target department store near you, you should check out their home decorating dept.  Somewhere along the way, Target really stepped up their game - they have some really amazing stuff now!  Granted, the prices stepped up their game as well, but I’m willing to pay more if the product is original, great looking, and is top quality.  Target is right on the target with all of those. 

They have a lot of vintage Hollywood art prints and posters. 

It’s not quite as easy to find play pretties for more recent classic television shows like Roseanne, Sanford and Son, Good Times, etc.  As ridiculously popular as they’re becoming, I have a feeling that’ll change soon enough.  Fingers crossed.

**I’ve added a “Clothes” page (see the navigational bar above) - I’m rounding up some great looking t-shirts, hoodies, hats, etc.  I’ve already linked to some I Love Lucy items that I fell in love with.  More will be added regularly, so be sure to check in from time to time.

I’m also adding quite a bit to the “Store” page, too.  Great stuff!

If these don’t make you smile, your facial muscles may have forgotten how.  Remedy? Turn on TV Land and catch up on some laughs!

You may not recognize the name Jay Novello, but I’m certain you recognize his very expressive face - from more places than you may realize.

This delightful character actor was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 22, 1904 to Italian parents - explaining why he learned to speak Italian before English.  He died in 1982 from lung cancer, but we’re here to keep memories alive, and Jay Novello has provided us with some great material to draw from!

He has a very impressive filmography resume - having worked in just about every genre imaginable. He even played a Japanese spy in Adventures of Smilin’ Jack (1943).  He is, however, best known for his work on television. Many people remember him as the scheming Mayor Lugato in “McHale’s Navy” (1962). Since I’ve never seen a single episode of McHale’s Navy, I’m not at all familiar with his work on the show. He did, however, appear on two series that I haven’t gone a day without since I can’t remember when: I Love Lucy and Andy Griffith.

He had several very memorable roles on I Love Lucy:

“Mario” in the epdisode titled Visitor from Italy (1956)
“Mr. Beecher” in the episode titled The Sublease (1954) - He was hilarious as the extremely nervous tenant-wannabe who Lucy tries to scare off.
Mr. Merriweather in the episode titled The Seance (1951) - As a highly strung man trying to contact “Tillie” on the other side.

He also left his mark on Andy Griffith:

Jay Novello showed more of his straight man side to the one and only Don Knotts in two classic episodes of Andy Griffith. In Guest of Honor, He played a thief who tricked Barney into thinking he was a hotel detective. He even convinced Barney that the actual hotel detective was the crook.  In Otis Sues the County, he played the sleazy attorney, Neil Bentley.

You may also recognize him from Make Room for Daddy (1958), The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin (as Carlos De La Marca in 2 episodes, 1957-1958), Zorro (5 episodes, 1958), The Donna Reed Show (1960), Wagon Train (1960), The Lucy Show (1962), Perry Mason (1962), The Untouchables (Gino Romaldi, 1963), My Three Sons (Vincenzo in an episode from 1966), Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. (2 episodes as Dr. Purdy, 1967-1969), Lassie (1968), Family Affair (3 episodes, 1969), Bonanza (2 episodes, 1965 and 1969), The Flying Nun (1969), Ironside (1971), The Mod Squad (2 episodes, 1969-1971), The Brady Bunch (as Mr. Martinelli in an episode from 1973), Kojak (1976), Chico and the Man (1976)…..

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to learn much about Jay Novello’s personal life.  His wife’s name was Paticia and they had one daughter, Yvonne.   One of my favorite ways to get a handle on someone is to read their quotes, but I haven’t been able to find even one.  I’m still on the hunt, though, so you might want to check this post again in a few days.

Mr. Novello may have something to say and you wouldn’t want to miss it!

This is from one of the funniest I Love Lucy episodes: The Se’ance. The deliciously hilarious actor Jay Novello played Mr. Merriweather in the episode. In the next post, I’ll tell you all about the very talented Mr. Novello. He’s a very underrated actor…not very many people know a much about him.

The next post will right that wrong!

Click on each thumbnail to see the larger image.